Post by Woody Williams on Nov 24, 2006 12:05:21 GMT -5
In KY.....Black bear’s paws removed after it was struck, killed on highway --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black bear’s paws removed after it was struck, killed on highway
ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — State wildlife officials are trying to learn details about a black bear that was struck and killed on a highway in northern Kentucky.
Conservation officer Jim Marshall and wildlife biologist Jason Plaxico met Lawrence County Sheriff Garrett Roberts and a deputy on U.S. Highway 23, about four miles north of the Johnson County line, on Monday and discovered a dead 215-pound young male bear that had been killed crossing the highway.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources workers noticed that someone had cut off its paws, which is illegal.
Kentucky does not have a hunting season for bears. It is illegal to take the carcass or body parts from a bear found dead or killed along the roadside in Kentucky.
Black bears once ranged throughout the forests that covered three-quarters of Kentucky. But habitat destruction, the loss of the American chestnut tree and human harassment nearly eliminated them from the state a century ago.
Because of large scale regeneration of forest land in eastern Kentucky, and abundant bear populations in neighboring states of West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, they are naturally recolonizing the state.
“We have a small but growing population of bears,” Marshall told the Ashland Independent. “They have become significant tourist attractions in several areas.”
Black bear’s paws removed after it was struck, killed on highway
ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — State wildlife officials are trying to learn details about a black bear that was struck and killed on a highway in northern Kentucky.
Conservation officer Jim Marshall and wildlife biologist Jason Plaxico met Lawrence County Sheriff Garrett Roberts and a deputy on U.S. Highway 23, about four miles north of the Johnson County line, on Monday and discovered a dead 215-pound young male bear that had been killed crossing the highway.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources workers noticed that someone had cut off its paws, which is illegal.
Kentucky does not have a hunting season for bears. It is illegal to take the carcass or body parts from a bear found dead or killed along the roadside in Kentucky.
Black bears once ranged throughout the forests that covered three-quarters of Kentucky. But habitat destruction, the loss of the American chestnut tree and human harassment nearly eliminated them from the state a century ago.
Because of large scale regeneration of forest land in eastern Kentucky, and abundant bear populations in neighboring states of West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, they are naturally recolonizing the state.
“We have a small but growing population of bears,” Marshall told the Ashland Independent. “They have become significant tourist attractions in several areas.”
